Realism: Performance and Performativity of London Turkish Cypriot Youth

Abstract

Having investigated, through PhD Practice as Research, the ways in which second- and third-generation Turkish Cypriot youth, living in London, perform, through everyday practices and performative behaviors (repeated, habitual practices) their diasporic identities, it is worth explaining and addressing, the distinction between the two terms, “performance” and “performativity”, in the context of this thesis enquiry. “Performance” refers to conscious acts of presentation and demonstration, usually as part of creative, artistic invention. “Performativity”, on the other hand, points more towards personal acts of identity (such as gender and – in this case – ethnic culture), normalized by the hegemony of society and the status quo. It is implied that the latter is a subconscious, habitual practice, even perhaps a form of “realism”, whilst the former constitutes a conscious awareness of a form of role-play. The idea of role-play, however, also implies a form of “realism” within the realms of theatre practice. The two terms, their definitions and their contributions to the practice of this thesis are discussed in this paper.